Uchiha Chapter 69: Advancement — Blazing Hell
The war continued to escalate.
The Third Shinobi World War raged on, and the shinobi academies of the Five Great Shinobi Villages continued sending new talent to the battlefields.
The brutal fighting also allowed countless shinobi to grow rapidly, standing out from the masses through actual combat.
Even shinobi as capable as Minato Namikaze, Nara Shikaku, and Orochimaru could only have a limited impact amid the vast scale of the war.
Konoha was steadily losing ground.
Uchiha Gōenji, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly famous on the Iwagakure front.
His powerful Fire Release made him one of Konoha's spearheads, repeatedly breaking through enemy encirclements and defensive lines.
The shinobi who had witnessed him on the battlefield began referring to him as a master of Fire Release.
His reputation was comparable to that of Sarutobi Shinnosuke, a master of Earth Release.
And that wasn't all.
After fighting in one major battle after another, Uchiha Gōenji had gradually become one of Konoha's decision-makers as well, thanks to his exceptional judgment and intelligence.
He led teams on various operations, relieving some of the pressure on Konoha.
But the battlefield was a meat grinder.
No matter how powerful Uchiha Gōenji was, Konoha was surrounded by enemies on every side, with pressure lurking even in the shadows.
There was only so much one person could do.
Konoha continued to retreat.
For five months, Konoha's front lines had been pushed back again and again.
Mount Kikyo
Konoha's repeated failures on the front lines triggered a chain reaction.
Even Sunagakure, which had previously remained relatively quiet, began mobilizing its forces.
Large contingents from the other major shinobi villages infiltrated the region and eventually converged on Mount Kikyo.
"The pressure is truly enormous. They've actually advanced all the way to Mount Kikyo."
Orochimaru was one of the highest-ranking commanders stationed at Mount Kikyo.
When he received the latest intelligence, he couldn't help narrowing his eyes.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before he could consider the situation any further, the sound of attacks erupted outside.
Everyone inside the base immediately rushed out toward the front line.
A massive number of enemy shinobi had appeared.
They came from the four opposing major shinobi villages.
It seemed their target was Konoha itself.
Although most of their main forces had been stopped by Konoha's frontline troops, an enormous number of enemies had still gathered here.
Orochimaru immediately formed a series of hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Smoke erupted.
A gigantic purple serpent appeared beneath him.
Orochimaru stood atop its head and gazed toward the distant enemy forces.
Manda hissed angrily.
"Damn it, Orochimaru. Why did you summon me again? If you don't have enough high-quality sacrifices this time, don't blame me..."
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Look ahead. They're all premium offerings."
Manda's eyes flashed with interest.
"I knew you wouldn't give me anything good for nothing. Leave them to me. I'll eat them all."
Swish!
Manda whipped its tail and shot forward, carrying Orochimaru toward the enemy forces.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A massive battle was unfolding across Mount Kikyo.
And on the front line, Uchiha Gōenji was fighting with everything he had.
Roaring flames tore through the clouds and surged toward the Iwagakure shinobi.
Iwagakure was no easy opponent.
They had long since taken precautions to prevent information about their notable enemies from spreading.
Their greatest strength—coordinated ninjutsu—was being used with extraordinary skill.
Massive Earth Release walls rose from the ground, blocking Gōenji's Great Fireball Technique.
Gōenji's Fire Release interfered with the enemy's combined ninjutsu.
Seeing this, he withdrew his flames.
"These guys really are impressive."
Gōenji smiled faintly.
"But mobilizing an entire force just to stop me... the price you're paying is far too high."
He drew the short sword from his waist.
The appearance of the blade had already changed dramatically.
But it hadn't been reforged.
Rather, after one battle after another without even a moment to rest, the weapon had been pushed to the very brink of destruction.
It was like a beast of burden from his previous life that had carried its load for far too long and was finally reaching its limit.
Fortunately, Gōenji could now control the temperature of his flames.
Even in this state, the blade could still endure for some time.
"Fire Release: Blazing Hell."
After nearly half a year of growth during his golden period, Gōenji finally no longer needed to consume an excessive amount of Chakra every time he used his techniques.
He could finally unleash his ninjutsu with far fewer limitations.
Blazing Hell was a newly developed Fire Release technique.
It had evolved from his previous One-Sword Cremation.
One-Sword Cremation had been designed as an extremely high-temperature, single-target attack meant to kill gigantic creatures.
Blazing Hell transformed that concept into a devastating large-scale attack.
The blade wrapped in scorching flames plunged directly into the ground.
"It's coming! It's coming! This is the captain's ultimate move!"
"Take them down!"
Three guards stood beside Gōenji.
They blocked every attack aimed at him.
Earth Release, Water Release, and Wind Release techniques were used to create barriers in front of Gōenji, giving him enough time to complete his Fire Release.
That was their purpose.
All three were only chūnin.
They didn't possess the talent or strength required to become jōnin.
On the battlefield, their individual value wasn't as great as Gōenji's.
Therefore, their mission was simple:
Protect Gōenji and allow him to successfully unleash his powerful ninjutsu.
Gōenji didn't refuse teammates like these.
His ultimate Fire Release techniques still required a relatively long preparation time, and his casting speed hadn't yet reached its optimal state.
Unlike Ōnoki's Dust Release, which appeared to require no hand seals, Blazing Hell and One-Sword Cremation both required a considerable number of seals.
At least several seconds.
This wasn't the time for him to fight alone.
According to the logic of a game, he was a mage, not an assassin like Minato.
For the time being, long-range spellcasting suited him better.
Especially in large-scale battles.
Having people protect him was wonderful.
Boom!
Amid the rain of attacks covering the battlefield, enemy shinobi repeatedly attempted to strike at Gōenji.
Every one of them was intercepted by his teammates.
Several seconds later, his ninjutsu was complete.
The scorching flames poured into the ground.
Starting from Gōenji as the center, countless crimson cracks began spreading across the earth toward the heart of the Iwagakure battlefield.
"Everyone, be careful! That's Uchiha Gōenji's area-of-effect ninjutsu!"
Iwagakure had already learned from Gōenji's previous battles.
This time, they had prepared much more cautiously.
Once they recognized his intentions, they immediately reacted.
They stayed tightly mixed with the Konoha shinobi, preventing Gōenji from unleashing his technique at full effectiveness.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pillars of fire erupted into the sky.
They spread across the entire battlefield.
The flames spread across an area several thousand meters wide.
Based on what he remembered from the original story, the attack range was several times greater than the scale of Uchiha Madara's attack against the Allied Shinobi Forces.
The two techniques were simply on completely different levels.
However, the Chakra consumption was equally enormous.
Although Gōenji's physical strength had increased again over the past five months and his Chakra reserves had doubled, he still consumed roughly half of his total Chakra in a single use.
But the result was excellent.
Countless Iwagakure shinobi could be seen lying across the battlefield.
Those who hadn't managed to escape in time had been reduced to charred corpses.
Only those who had already closed in on the Konoha shinobi managed to avoid the attack.
Or those who possessed genuine strength.
They either evaded the flames or successfully blocked them.
After all, this was a large-scale ninjutsu, not a focused single-target attack like One-Sword Cremation.
Even though some of Gōenji's abilities had already been leaked to Iwagakure, the village still suffered tremendous losses.
Seeing the devastation, the morale of the Konoha shinobi soared.
"Charge!"
"Iwagakure bastards, go to hell!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
For a time, Konoha seized the upper hand.
And at last, a smile gradually appeared on Uchiha Gōenji's face.